First Meeting
by Iincho
Summary: Shortly after his father dies Allen is brought to an orphanage where he meets Kanda. Enjoy!
1. First Meeting Kanda and Allen

Disclaimers: Nothing of D. Gray-man belongs to me *whistles wishfully*

Note: In this story Allen is 5 and Kanda 8. I at first wanted Allen to be 3 years old, but realized that no 3 year old could talk like that then… ~_~

The… fatherly side of our most beloved womanizer was inspired by… one of the most horrible *cries* chapters of the manga. I miss him T_T

**Anyway: Enjoy reading! ^o^**

* * *

Kanda was sitting on a comfortable chair in a corner of the room, as far away from everyone else as possible. He didn't bother playing with the other children, they were stupid anyway. The nurses had given up on trying to make him play with the other children about a month after he had been brought here and Kanda was happy with that. He didn't need anyone else.

He had been brought to the orphanage five months ago, when his uncle Tiedoll had to leave for work. Kanda didn't mind too much, his uncle was annoying, and he knew he would be picked up again in probably around two to three months again. Tiedoll had wanted to take him along, but Kanda wanted to stay in his hometown no matter what. As such his uncle had agreed, albeit with a lot of tears, to let him stay.

The orphanage was run by one of his uncle's friends. To her it didn't matter if she had to take care of one more child or not. And the money Tiedoll had given her was probably enough to uphold this place for a year. As a famous artist Tiedoll could afford to be generous.

Kanda had soon gotten used to the place. In the morning he and some of the other children would go to school and later on he would either read or train by himself and ignore all the other annoying children to the best of his abilities - which were awesome.

A few boys had tried to talk with him and made fun of him, after he continued to ignore them. He had beaten them up (and earned himself a night without food). A week later another boy had tried to take his favorite possession - a wooden katana - away. He had used it to show the boy just how good he could handle the wooden weapon. Ever since everyone knew never to touch anything that belonged to the boy and left him in peace ever since.

"Kanda" the nurse called.

"…"

"Kanda, can you come please? We have to talk with you for a minute."

The young boy scowled but got up and followed the nurse into the office.

"A new child will be coming here today." The head nurse explained. " He's the nephew from a friend of your uncle so please take care of him."

Kanda's eyes narrowed into a glare. "I don't want to."

"Just try to still. You're one of the few who speak English. The kid doesn't speak Japanese."

"Then why is he here and not in America."

"Because of his guardian's work. And they will probably move here anyway."

"It doesn't concern me. I want to go read now." Kanda turned around and went back to his chair to read.

"I had hoped the boy would open up…" The nurse shook her head and watched the stubborn child with a worried expression.

* * *

Later in the afternoon a red haired man came into the orphanage. Behind him followed a strange boy. The boy was strange for several reasons: he had snow white hair, a bandage was put over his left eye, though a scar could still be seen under it and above the same eye he had a star carved onto his face. The boy's left hand was bandaged and in a sling. He tried hiding behind the tall man and clung to his leg.

"Please stop smoking, Mr. Cross. We don't want you to set a bad example for the children!" The head nurse told the redhead.

"If a beautiful lady like you requests…" He put the cigarette away and smiled at the woman who blushed a lovely shade of red.

The second nurse meanwhile looked at the young child. The boy seemed to be scared and obviously would rather stay with his uncle.

"What happened to him?" She asked Cross.

"I did tell you on the phone that his father recently died, no? Well to be honest he was killed. A bloody murderer had been on the run from the police. He saw the boy and followed him to their home where he cut this into his face." Cross pointed at the pentacle. The nurse gasped in shock.

"When his father got back home and saw what was happening he attacked that fucking bastard. Mana died in that fight, alongside with that… fucking piece of shit." His hands clenched into fists. "During the fight somehow fire must have broken out. The only one we could save was Allen. His arm was heavily burnt and probably will not heal completely anymore."

A heavy silence fell over them. "I couldn't take more than three weeks off. I have to finish my work, otherwise I would have taken Allen along, but… I'll come and pick him up as soon as possible. So please take good care of him till then."

The head nurse took a few shaky breathes "Now I see why you didn't want to tell me about it on the phone. Of course we will take good care of him. Finish your work and do come and pick him up soon again."

"Of course. Tiedoll said his son is here. That's why I brought him. And maybe he already will learn some Japanese."

"Yuu Kanda indeed is here. Though I wonder if he will befriend Allen-chan."

They left the office and guided Cross and Allen through the building, showing them where Allen would sleep (in the room besides Kanda's), where the bathroom and the kitchen was and then brought him to the rest of the children.

"Everyone listen, this is Allen-kun. He's just arrived here and probably won't understand much Japanese yet. Please welcome him and help him get used to our home."

The children agreed with a loud 'Hai' as was expected from them.

Kanda looked at Allen, who was still clinging to his uncle's leg. "Che." What a weird guy. Allen smiled and waved at them 'Hello.' he said in a small voice. Some children waved back, but Kanda doubted that anyone actually understood him. The pale boy, who was smiling entirely too brightly, was pissing him off. Like hell he would go out of his way and talk with him.

* * *

Half an hour later Cross was about to leave. He took Allen into his arms and hugged him. "Don't worry. I'll just have to take care of a few things and then I'll come back. Be a good boy like you promised."

Allen smiled shakily at his uncle and nodded, though tears could be clearly seen in his eye.

"Time will go faster than you think." The man kissed him on his forehead and set him down again. "Bye then."

* * *

Two days had passed since then. At first everyone had been interested in the tiny boy, so much that he had actually gotten afraid. But seeing as he couldn't understand and talk with the other children they quickly lost interest in him.

Some of the boys quickly took the chance and started making fun of his appearance. Luckily the new boy didn't seem to understand. He smiled at them and tried to play with the others. Kanda hated that the boy always smiled. When the boy came to him and introduced himself he had hit his hand away. Just because he understood the boy didn't mean he had any intention of talking with him.

The only ones making an effort to talk with him were the nurses. Though Kanda wondered why they were surprised that the child didn't cry. He also hadn't cried when his uncle left, so why should the other cry?

* * *

Allen didn't really get used to the orphanage. Only some of the children played with him, for the most part they ignored him though. Sometimes they talked to him, but he couldn't understand them, which made him sad. He missed his father and also his uncle terrible and prayed every day that they were fine and that his uncle would come and pick him up soon.

After ten days Allen's bandages were taken down for good. All over the left side of his face there was a scar now. The boy's eye luckily hadn't been damaged though. The problem however was his arm. The entire left arm was dark red, black and deformed. When one of the girls had seen it she had screamed and pushed the boy away. Ever since none of the girls wanted him close anymore.

Allen, who had only wanted to play with the others, didn't understand why they would suddenly act as if he wasn't there. Or why they wouldn't take toys, that he had touched. Like when a ball fell in front of his feet and he wanted to give it back to the boy. The other boy had shouted something at him and shoved him back.

Kanda, who had observed the whole display scowled. Why was that damn baby still smiling?

An hour later on the same day one of the older boys marched up to him. He punched Allen in his stomach and started to yell.

Allen looked up at him with wide eyes, his hand clutching his stomach. "Why did you do that? What do you want?"

Hearing him talk in English the other boy seemed to get more angry and yelled even louder.

"Damn idiot!" Kanda yelled at the older boy in Japanese. "You should know that others blame him when things go missing. You do it yourself asshole. Now shut your damn mouth!"

The older boy glared at Kanda and probably would have started a fight when the nurse came in to see why they were yelling so much.

Allen got up and thanked Kanda, smiling at him.

"I didn't help you so don't thank me. I just wanted him to shut up." The black haired boy explained in English. "And one word of advice: stay away from the other kids. They like to blame you for whatever and don't like you. Baka, as they call you, means idiot."

And for the first time since the boy was here the smile became smaller and vanished from the face completely. The silver eyes, that Kanda only now really saw for the first time, widened as the small boy processed that not only someone could talk English, but also what had been said.

Kanda however did not feel pleased that the smile vanished all of a sudden. The hurt he could see on the normally smiling face surprised him really much. He had believed that the others opinion didn't matter to the boy.

Allen turned around and ran out of the room before he could say anything else to him.

That night Allen ran away from the orphanage. He didn't want to stay there any longer. He wanted his father back and his uncle! He didn't want to stay in a place where he was a bother for everyone else, where he couldn't talk with people. He walked as far as he could, before he was too tired to continue walking and sat down on a bench.

* * *

The next morning the nurses and also all the other children were frantically searching for the white haired boy. But to no avail.

The children were asked, if something had happened, but everyone was just looking down until Kanda got fed up with their behavior and just spilled everything.

The police was called as well as the boys guardian who said he would be flying back in the next machine. Two of the nurses along with some of the older children went to search for Allen as well.

Kanda, feeling guilty, also decided to go search instead of going to school.

He first searched in the nearby shopping street and the two parks, that the nurses took them two if they wanted.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was worried about the boy. And the hurt look in those eyes didn't let him rest. He had wanted to get a rise out of the boy and also to make him stop smiling. He just hadn't thought that his words would affect the other so much.

Two hours later, just as he was about to head back to the orphanage, something white caught his sight. As he went closer he realized that it indeed was the person he was looking for, laying on the floor behind a tree.

"Allen!" he called but got no reaction. He poked the boy and realized that the other one was sleeping. The chubby face was dirty and it was clear that the boy had been crying. The wind picked up and the younger boy shivered, rolling up for more warmth.

Seeing the boy like this, sleeping on the ground with a dirty face and shivering from the cold, made Kanda realize that the boy was actually very beautiful. And also very fragile. That probably was the reason, why the boy always kept smiling. He probably wanted to be stronger.

Kanda threw his jacket over the boy and sat down besides him, absentmindedly playing with the silky white hair of the boy. The longer he stared at the sleeping figure, the calmer he felt.

Just after it was starting to get dark Allen woke up. He looked around disoriented and tears started to gather in his eyes.

"Why are you crying?" Kanda asked with a calm voice.

That startled the boy and he jumped up. Kanda grabbed his hand. "Let go!" The tiny boy screamed and started to panic, but Kanda just pulled him down again. "Why are you here?" The boy asked when he realized that struggling wasn't going to help him and had calmed a tiny bit. "Answer my question first."

The boy sniffled and was silent for a few minutes. "My father died. He was always there, and now he is not anymore. And I miss him." The boys shoulders began shaking. "My uncle came, but now he is gone too. And you said that no one likes me… I knew that… but I wanted to have a friend and play… but since they saw my arm… and no one understands…" The boy explained in between sobs until he couldn't talk anymore. The pain that he had kept at bay the whole time finally overwhelmed him.

Kanda didn't know what else to do than to gather the crying boy in his arms and pat his back, like Tiedoll had loved to do with him. Not that he had cried.

The younger boy either liked it or didn't realize what he was doing, but slowly the sobs got less and less. Half an hour later he was breathing evenly again, Kanda was sure that the pale boy had fallen asleep again when the boy asked him again why he was here.

"I was looking for you. The whole orphanage is searching for you right now." He finally told the other.

"I don't want to go back." Kanda however got up and pulled him with him.

"Come with me." Allen looked around, unsure of what to do. Kanda held out his hand for him. "Come."

Allen slowly took his hand and smiled a tiny smile.

It was at that moment that Kanda decided that the other boy was his. And that a smile definitely suited him better than the look he had received the previous day. Though he only wanted to see real smiles on the boys face.

He started to lead the way back never once letting go the younger boys hand.

* * *

When they arrived back the head nurse didn't know whether to scream and yell at them or to hug them and cry of joy when both were back safely. No one had gotten wind of Kanda's plan to go look for the smaller boy, so when he also turned up missing at midday she almost fainted from worry. She settled for neither and just ushered them inside where both boys found their guardians waiting.

Tiedoll, who had been crying, hugged the boy for dear life and cried some more while Kanda tried to push him away.

"Yuu-kun, how could you make me worry so much? I came here to check up on you with Marian and you had vanished too!" he sniffed and wiped his tears away.

Cross however looked behind the taller of the boys, to find his charge staring on the ground with his shoulders shaking and quiet sobs escaping his mouth. He sighed and walked over to the tiny boy and picked him up again. "Brat, you sure like to make others worry, don't you." He put a small yellow ball with wings into the tiny hands.

Allen looked at him confused and then at the ball in his hands. "What is that?"

"That is Timcanpy. He will watch over you from now on. Though you will be coming with us anyway."

When Kanda heard that, he pulled free from Tiedoll's hug and kicked Cross' shin.

"What the hell are you doing brat!" The older man flicked his finger against the boy's forehead.

"The moyashi is mine! So he stays with me!" Kanda glared daggers at the man who wanted to take what belonged to him away.

Cross and Tiedoll looked at one another for a few seconds before Tiedoll started to cry once again (Kanda had for the first time said that he liked someone else). While Cross just grinned and picked the second boy up as well, throwing him over his shoulder with one arm.

"Your uncle will be very happy to have you with us."

As such it was decided that both boys would both come along with their guardians.

* * *

Duh… I somehow truly wanted to write a child Allen and Kanda story. This was it. Hope you enjoyed reading :)


	2. Second Meeting Friends and Family

Second chapter of First Meeting…

This chapter got so long that I made two parts out of it. I need some opinions before putting more work into it. It's my third attempt for this chapter and I am still not completely sure… -_- Since the main storyline won't change I don't wanna rewrite it again.

For the most part the second half of this is already written (actually it only lacks the ending)… I am more looking forward for to the things that are coming after (another reason why I need opinions on this one).

This chapter is not beta-read yet :(

* * *

The weeks after that fateful day went by slowly. The damage done to Allen during the time in the orphanage made him clingier than ever. Cross sighed as he was sitting on a bench outside his house smoking a cigarette. At first he hadn't noticed it at all. He was awkward with the child. Allen was sweet and all, actually too sweet, but he was not used to take care of someone and he didn't know how to show his feeling to a child.

Before he was in the orphanage Allen used to spend time alone still, now it seemed as if Allen was afraid that he wouldn't return if he left and followed whenever he could. He also refused to go to a kindergarten and when he had tried to force him to go Allen had used the first chance he got to sneak out. If it hadn't been for Timcanpy he probably wouldn't have found Allen again. That though was what worried him the most.

As he told Bak, who was the company's doctor and a psychologist, about the troubles with the kid he said that the best thing to do would be to take Allen along as often as possible and make him go out and play with people that he liked. Bak also told him to just try to get the child to talk and listen when he had problems.

He had tried to do that and was surprised to have Allen sit down beside him happily and talk about whatever was on his mind as long as he had the feeling that his uncle was listening and didn't mind him around.

Bak guessed this was a good sign and that the child most likely just needed time and someone that he could believe would not be taken away or leaving again all of a sudden. This however was not something Cross liked. He liked to spend time with women and stay a few nights away ever so often.

For Allen's sake he had decided to cut down on that. As well as starting to smoke outside of the house (Allen hated the smell of smoke on the furniture.) Luckily he could send the kid over to Tiedoll still when he wanted to spend a few nights away now and then. The little one had gotten attached to Tiedoll's brat and really liked spending time with him.

Cross, though grateful for that, also wondered about his nephew's taste in people. The boy was stoic and even worse than him with showing his emotions. Still, for the most part he was patient with Allen and understood the child's needs. The brat also saw to it that his nephew had no reason to cry.

The first two times he had made Allen sleep over at Tiedoll's place he had gotten sick however. His body had refused to keep his food down, which for Allen could be deadly since his metabolism was completely off and he required a lot more food than a normal person.

Allen had been afraid that his uncle would leave him behind and not return anymore or that he was a bother to Cross. It had taken a lot of time to get Allen to trust him in that aspect, to make him believe that he would return and that he should enjoy sleeping at Tiedoll's place instead of getting sick.

Now that was no problem anymore and Allen would always happily tell him after the sleepovers what he and Tiedoll's brats had done.

He stared up at the sky some more before finally going into the house. Allen most likely was at Tiedoll's place already, as the brat had told him earlier.

* * *

Kanda watched as Allen taught Daisya how to juggle. It was a skill that Allen had learned from his father, Mana. No one asked too many questions about Allen's father though, as that was a sure way to make Allen's smile disappear in no time and tears well up in his eyes.

Allen kind of was the cute adopted younger brother of Marie and Daisya, which they never had. Kanda after all was by no means cute. They loved to spoil Allen and enjoyed playing with him whenever they had time.

The first time his two older brothers had met his moyashi he had had a fight right away with Daisya. The young boy had come into the kitchen, trying to hide behind Kanda while curiously looking around. Daisya had thought it was a very cute sight and tried to hug Allen. However the memories of getting hit by other children had been too fresh for Allen and he had gotten scared and tried to hide.

As such Kanda had been _very_ angry. Not only had Daisya tried to hug his moyashi but he had scared him also. He at once hit Daisy and the two started to fight. The fight probably would have ended with both of them injured if Tiedoll had not interfered. Meanwhile Marie had calmed Allen down and brought him back into the kitchen, where they finally could be properly introduced to each other.

He still could clearly remember Allen's reaction to his oldest brother's introduction.

"_Are you a girl?" Allen asked confused and Marie, who had just taken a sip of tea, started to choke violently. Daisya was rolling on the floor, laughing, while Allen blinked. Kanda couldn't help but grin at the situation and made no move to clarify the mistake._

"_I'm a boy." Marie responded after he could breathe again._

"_But Marie is a girl's name." Allen stated making Daisya laugh even more, so that he ended up coughing._

"_Ahm… I am a boy however. Do I look like a girl?"_

_Allen shook his head. "That's strange."_

"_Well… though it may be a girlish name I am a boy." Allen hesitantly nodded._

"_I like him already." Daisya commented between laughing, not caring that he was sparking Kanda's possessive side again._

At first Allen had been suspicious of Kanda's brothers, but soon enough he accepted that they were not going to hurt or reject him. They didn't even push him away when his left arm could be seen after he had fallen down and the left sleeve of his shirt had been ripped. Allen had been sure they would react like the other children had and kept his eyes fixed on the ground, stepping back when he realized someone was coming closer. Kanda told him to stand still however and pulled him back towards his brothers.

If he was honest he would have liked for the moyashi to not talk to his brothers. But he also realized that the younger boy would need other people as well in order to live and get better. He decided his brothers were the better than some idiots he didn't know.

And now his brothers were almost as protective of Allen as he was, which was a good thing he supposed. That way the younger would have someone to talk to if he wasn't around. Especially Marie was good at that. The oldest boy had also taken it upon himself to learn Japanese with Allen. Allen seemed to like learning the language and was improving slowly but steadily. Even if his pronunciation was completely of sometimes, a fact that managed to make Kanda lose his cool now and then. How could someone not pronounce 'soba' right?

"Kanda, do you want to join as well?" Allen asked with a hopeful smile.

"No."

The smile vanished at once. "Why not?"

"I have homework to do still."

"You always say that when you don't feel like doing something." Allen pouted.

"It's always true though. If you could write in Japanese I could let you do my homework and play instead, but unfortunately you can't…"

"I am learning though." The younger boy answered with a sad look on his face.

"What's with that look?" He hated Allen's sad face almost as much as he hated the boy's fake smiles that he gave people when he felt unsure and wanted to hide.

"It takes so long to learn. I could read English. Japanese is too difficult."

"You would have an easier time in kindergarten then." But Allen shook his head vehemently. Even Kanda couldn't make him go there.

"Maybe you should come along to school Allen." Naturally it was Daisya who had the most stupid idea again.

"What good would that do? In that case he could go to kindergarten and he doesn't want that."

"You learn better if you are surrounded by people who talk the language. And if he doesn't want to go to kindergarten maybe he would like to join us in school."

Allen just stared at the two brothers who had started to talk in Japanese. They didn't do that too often, but he usually felt left out when they switched languages. It was one of the reasons why he was trying hard to learn it. Just that it took so long…

"I think the idea is good." Marie said when he came out of the house. "I could take him along tomorrow to High School."

This was one of the few times he really pissed Kanda off. "No way in hell. Moyashi is definitely not going to High School!"

"What about me, Kanda?" Allen asked confused when he heard the other's nickname for him.

"Nothing." But Allen already was staring at Marie, who almost never refused to give answers.

"I was suggesting that you could come to High School with me. It's easier to learn a language when you are surrounded by people who speak it." The oldest boy explained.

Allen nodded. "I can go with you?"

Marie was about to say yes when Kanda stopped him.

"Moyashi, do you wanna go that badly to school?"

Allen nodded again. "If Marie is there it's fun."

"You could also come with me." Daisya smiled at the tiny boy.

Kanda glared at both of them with venom. "Fuck it!"

"Is it bad to go to school?" Allen asked him.

"You'll come with me instead of Marie. And don't even think of joining with Daisya."

Allen blinked and smiled. "Hai!"

"However it's really boring, so don't expect anything fun."

"It's more boring here. Only Tim is here and he doesn't talk."

"You are not allowed to talk during the lessons either."

"I won't."

"And there are a lot of annoying children there."

Allen looked unsure for a few seconds. He didn't trust strangers. But Kanda would be there too. "You are there. It's fun with you." He decided and beamed at Kanda again, who in turn sighed. Damn his brothers for giving the boy stupid ideas. And he sure as hell wouldn't let his moyashi go with either Daisya or Marie.

Marie smiled. He had known that Kanda would take the younger one along, as soon as someone else would take him with them otherwise. Kanda was way too predictable in that point. Once he claimed something as his he wouldn't let it go again.

The situation made him remember just how useful that fact. It was one of the few ways to manipulate his little brother.

The first time they had found out just how possessive was, was when Kanda had laid eyes on _his_ wooden sword. It had been a present from Tiedoll three years ago. Kanda saw it and at once claimed it as his. Never before had the child wanted anything so Marie didn't really mind giving it to him. Especially when he could make Kanda agree to take another room in their old house, so they could renovate the complete first floor finally.

Now however it wasn't some_thing_ that Kanda had claimed, but a living person. This was making it a lot more complicated for Kanda. Allen was still too naïve to really understand what was going on and Marie truly hoped that things would stay well for the two of them in the future. For now though he was grateful that Allen made it easy to manipulate Kanda into doing things that were for his own good too.

"We'll have to ask your uncle and Tiedoll too." Marie informed him.

Allen smiled happily. He was sure his uncle would agree to let him go. "Let's go ask my uncle then!" Allen excitedly tugged on Kanda's hand.

Cross unfortunately for Kanda liked the idea. The man thought that if Allen had decided it on his own, it shouldn't be all bad for him. And Kanda would be there too, so maybe it would be easier to get him used to other people again with the brat's help.

Cross had tried to take Allen to work now and then, but ever since the murder of his father Allen was tense around adults and it was anything but enjoyable for the child to be surrounded by many. The only two people Allen had warmed up to were Bak (who had put in a great deal of effort to get Allen to relax around him) and the companies cook Jeryy (the cook had had a lot less trouble to gain Allen's trust). Again Cross had to wonder about his nephew's choice in people as he thought about it.

"Make sure to keep an eye on him." Cross said as Allen went to pack his backpack. "He doesn't do well with strangers."

"I know." Kanda's eyes narrowed. He had often enough seen Allen's reactions to strangers, who did that man think he was?

"If anything happens use Timcanpy to call me." Cross continued and Kanda nodded. The man often enough acted cold towards Allen, but he really liked his nephew and cared a great deal about him.

"In that case have a nice day tomorrow and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"I don't do stupid things." Allen had finished packing and came back.

"Stupid people do stupid things. It's natural." Cross told him and poked his forehead. "No child would prefer to go to school than to kindergarten. You are stupid."

"Am not. Kanda, Daisya and Marie are in school. It's fun with them!" Allen half-glared at Cross, causing the man to laugh. His nephew's glares always were big failures.

Tiedoll also thought that taking Allen to school was a good idea and at once called the principal of Kanda's school.

The principal, an older man who truly loved children, saw no harm in it as long as Allen would stay quiet and wouldn't disturb the other pupils. Allen promised both and was way too excited for the rest of the evening.

* * *

The next morning Tiedoll had prepared breakfast for them and brought them to school in his car. He gave each of them a bento box and promised to pick them up in the afternoon again.

Allen jumped happily out of the car and stared at the school building. Kanda saw nothing special in it, but Allen seemed to like it. "Mana always said that I would go to a school too in a few years." It was the first time Allen said the name of his father without any hurt in his voice.

"I'm sure you'll have fun on your first day here." Marie smiled at Allen while patting his head and Allen nodded.

"I'll show you my classroom first, before you go to Kanda's." Daisya said. "Come to me if you get separated from Kanda."

"Ok." Allen grabbed Kanda's arm and followed Daisya. As they arrived on the third floor of the building Daisya pointed towards his class. "Come if anything is wrong. Kanda will show you where I am during midday break, kay?"

"Where is Marie?" Allen said as he noticed that the oldest brother was missing.

"Marie is too old to be in this school. His school is a bit further ahead." Kanda explained.

"Just come to me, moyashi-chan, if there is a problem." Daisya smiled. "I'll see you later Kanda." Then he turned around and left.

"So is there anything you want to see, moyashi?"

Allen asked where he was normally hanging out and Kanda started to show him the places that he preferred. Allen especially liked _his_ tree that was behind the school. Naturally it was the one that was furthest away from the school-building and as such the other children. As always Kanda liked silent places with few people best.

"We'll eat here, if the sun is out, otherwise it's still too cold." Kanda told him.

The bell rang for the first time and Kanda lead him to his classroom. Most of his classmates were already here and at once started to stare and whisper when they saw Allen. Kanda like always ignored his classmates and pulled his chair to the side so Allen could sit at the side of his desk. Then he went and got a second chair for himself and sat down besides the white haired boy.

Though he ignored them, the whispers of his classmates were annoying the hell out of him.

"_Who's that boy?"_

"Why is a new boy here? And what's with his hair color?"

"_He's cute!"_

"_But did you see the weird scar on his face?"  
_

"_Why is he wearing gloves?"_

"_Why is he sitting besides Kanda?"_

Kanda hated it when others talked about Allen. He hated people that tried to get close to the tiny boy just as much as he hated people who tried to get close to him.

"Why are they whispering?" Allen asked him and he smirked as they now started to talk about what language his moyashi was talking.

"They're curious about you. It's not normal that other children come along to school, you know."

Allen nodded and smiled. "Shall I tell them my name?"

"Don't bother about them. They'll get over it soon enough. And besides, they still won't be able to talk with you. We don't learn English yet."

The bell rang and his teacher, Mrs. Nine, came into the class. At once everyone stood up and the chatter and whispers stopped. The usual morning greeting followed and when everyone had sat down she finally satisfied some of the curiosity regarding the white haired boy.

"Class, today Kanda brought a guest along, as I am sure you all noticed. His name is Walker Allen. He doesn't speak Japanese yet and will be here to learn it. He's recently moved here from England and is five years old. Since he's shy try to give him some space."

After that she gave them some exercises and came to their table. She introduced herself to Allen. "Wouldn't it be better for you to use the empty desk at the back? Do you have enough space like this?" She asked them in English, so that Allen would also understand what was being said.

"If it's no problem he'll stay here. Allen also promised not to talk during the lessons, so no one will be disturbed." Kanda said before Allen could reply. The boy would probably have smiled and moved to the back, even if he didn't want to.

Allen sighed in relief. He'd rather stay besides Kanda and not at the other side of the room. The teacher nodded. She had been informed by the principal today and he had also told her a little bit of the British boy's past, so she decided to leave them, as long as Kanda would stay focused in class.

Though she had to admit it was a surprising sight. Kanda, who never talked with anyone (well… with one exception that forced himself on the other boy), took care of the tiny boy and shared his desk with him. She liked this new side of her pupil.

"Here Allen. I brought you some copies, with Katakana and Hiragana signs. If you are bored, try to learn writing."

Allen smiled brightly at her and thanked her. He took a look at the foreign signs and started to try and copy them.

"If you are done with the exercises you can help him Kanda, but be quiet." Kanda nodded and went to work as well.

The teacher was pleased that the young boy indeed did not disturb her lessons. The breaks in between naturally were another matter. After the first two hours the children gathered around Kanda's table and tried to talk with him. Kanda, though obviously annoyed at his classmates, didn't make a move to push them away as long as Allen was fine with it.

The morning passed quickly. Allen was busy learning the signs that Mrs. Nine had given him. He would later on show them to Marie and his uncle! Kanda would tell him the meanings of the signs and show him which lines to make first when he was done with his work (he liked 'no' best, since that was the sign Kanda explained first).

When the bell rang to signal that the lunch break Kanda was quick to grab their lunch boxes and pull Allen out of the class. He didn't want his lunch break interrupted by his annoying classmates, they'd already done enough of that during the small breaks.

The weather had indeed stayed well as such they went back to his usual lunch-break place. Allen, even though he had three times the amount than him, finished his food long before he finished his.

"Your school is nice." Allen commented with the same excitement he had shown yesterday evening.

"Do you like the people here?"

"I like your teacher. I don't know your classmates."

"Most of them are annoying. The worst of them isn't even here today."

Allen giggled. "Too bad. I would have liked to see the one who is worst."

"I'll go to the toilet, stay here for a few minutes, I'll be right back." Kanda got up and watched Allen for any sign of discomfort. However Allen nodded. It seemed that he trusted Kanda to come back soon.

Allen used the chance to take a good look at the building from this side. The school indeed was nice, it had white and blue walls and was surrounded by a lot of old trees that looked like you could climb up without problems… if you were a bit taller than him.

He took out a small ball from his pocket and started to play with Timcanpy as he waited for Kanda to come back. He would throw the ball somewhere and Tim would throw it back with its tail or bring it back to him if he missed.

* * *

A few meters away was a young girl sitting on a bench in the sun. She was watching the boy with interest, a smile on her face. The boy certainly was cute. He somehow remembered her of a kitty that made others want to cuddle it.

She wondered why none of the children that were watching him, went to him though. Probably it was better to leave him she decided. Usually when she had that feeling she was right.

Suddenly someone blocked the sun and she shivered, it still was cold in the shadows after all. "Who is that boy?" A cheerful voice asked.

"I don't know." She answered and looked up. The person who had asked was a red haired boy from the upper classes. She had seen him a few times. He was usually surrounded by other children and was smiling cheerfully most of the time.

"The name's Lavi." He smiled at her as he realized she was staring at him.

"I'm Lenalee." She smiled back and he grinned, closing his green eyes.

"Anyway… I'm curious. He doesn't look like he belongs to this school. With that hair I would definitely remember him."

"He's not a first year, I'm one and I know all the others."

"Thought so. But… he's cute, isn't he." He watched as the boy fell into a heap of leaves after he missed the ball that the yellow bird had thrown back to him.

Lavi quickly decided to get to know the newcomer that everyone seemed to make a bow around. "Ah… I wouldn't do that. His frie-"

However Lavi had already reached the boy, who still didn't notice him. She heard a surprised and slightly fearful squeal as the younger was being hugged out of the blue.

She wasn't the only one who had heard it apparently as the black haired boy come running back.

Kanda was furious as he heard Allen's squeal and saw a certain redhead hugging his moyashi. "Keep your hands off! Damn usagi!" He yelled at the other boy. He hit Lavi's head as soon as he reached them and pulled Allen, who looked scared towards him.

He made sure that Allen was alright before turning with a death glare to the other boy. "Try to do that again and you're dead!"

Lavi was rubbing the sore spot on his head where his friend had hit him. "Damn Yuu… ouch… Could you stop hitting me? I wasn't even doing anything!"

Kanda's murderous aura intensified at that. "Don't dare to stay my first name! And don't touch him!" He wanted to hit the rabbit again, but Allen held on to his hand and shook his head. Tears were already gathering in his eyes and Kanda froze. He hated dealing with Allen when he was crying. It always made him awkward.

"Don't." Allen hated seeing people being hurt, especially if it was because of him. And he was scared that Kanda would get in trouble because of this. He tugged on Kanda's arm until the other dropped it to his side again.

"Stop crying moyashi. Just ignore the baka usagi." His gaze softened and he wiped the tears of the boys face to the shock of Lavi who had never seen his friend being friendly to someone.

"Ignore me? How cruel!" Lavi whined and still rubbed over his head. Kanda smirked, he had gotten the rabbit better than he had thought. However his first priority at the moment was to get Allen away from the redhead boy, he didn't want him to pick up any of the usagi's idiocy.

He gently pushed Allen back into the school. "Kanda… he could talk English! Why don't we stay and talk with him?"

The excited look on Allen's face told him that the other really wanted to try and talk with his stupid classmate again. He silently cursed before answering. "He's annoying, I don't like him."

"But he could talk with me. Wouldn't that be nice? If you have to go somewhere there is still another person here that I can talk with." Allen's smile at that made him want to punch the redhead into oblivion. Why of all people was it Lavi that could talk with Allen?

"I'm not going anywhere and if I do then you come along." Kanda shrugged.

* * *

Meanwhile Lavi was sitting outside still on the ground and stared after them with a wide grin on his face. Dealing with his friend had just become even more interesting.

"And here I tried to warn you." Lenalee appeared behind him and helped him up. "I don't think you should anger the black haired boy anymore."

"Ah… Yuu-chan was really pissed off, wasn't he?" He could feel a swelling on his head and winced as Lenalee touched it, to see if he was bleeding. "He normally hits where it hurts, but usually he doesn't go all out like now."

"How about trying to annoy him less?" Lenalee suggested with a bright smile.

"And leave out all the fun?" He undusted himself. "I didn't know the boy was here with him though. How come Yuu-chan is taking care of someone as cute as him?"

Lenalee's smile wavered a bit. Lavi didn't really seem stupid, so why did he want to annoy that angry looking boy? "I don't know. Did you understand what they were saying?"

"They were talking in English. I didn't know Yuu-chan can talk English though. Seems like I have still a lot to learn about him."

"Uhm… try at least to not scare that small one anymore. I don't think he appreciated your hug." Lenalee tried. Maybe the tall boy really was stupid. Her brother had warned her not to get close to stupid boys.

"Ah… but he's so cute. And it makes Yuu-chan angry." The redhead answered with a wide grin again. The boy clearly had no value for his life.

* * *

Kanda had brought Allen back into their classroom after a little visit to Daisya to take his thoughts of the usagi. Luckily his classmates knew better than to come and try to talk with him. His patience was already gone ever since a certain green eyed boy had appeared in school that day.

"What?" He asked Allen as he noticed that the little boy was staring at him.

"You're angry." Allen said sounding unhappy once again.

"Not at you though."

Allen shook his head. "You didn't want me to come here… you only took me because Marie said you should, didn't you. I know you didn't want to take me along. I'm sorry. I wanted to see what your school is like. It's always boring when you're not around."

"I wouldn't have taken you along if I was completely against it." Kanda knew it was useless trying to lie to Allen. The kid sometimes had the uncanny ability to understand other's emotions too well. He just hoped the other wouldn't start crying again.

Allen's reaction was worse than crying however. He had his mask back in place and told him he'd call his uncle and go home, so that Kanda could concentrate again. Somehow this made Kanda a lot more angry. He had thought Allen had finally started to accept that he could ask for things he wanted and that he didn't have to try and stay out of everyone's way so much.

He took a hold of Allen's wrist before the other could go outside and tried his best to not sound too angry. If he did, then Allen for sure would run away. "Moyashi… stop being stupid. You're here already, I promised you could come along and you're not the one who made me angry. I'm angry because of the stupid usagi. If someone should go back home it's him."

He hoped he'd gotten his point across and that the white haired boy believed him when he said he wasn't angry at him. Often enough he had mistaken Kanda's anger at someone else as anger directed at him.

Albeit slowly Allen nodded and smiled a tiny smile and Kanda poked him once again. "You like being here, right?"

"Hai."

"Then it's ok for you to be here." Finally that seemed to work and Allen hugged him, which caused Kanda to tense up and awkwardly pat his back.

"Awww… why does he hug you and is scared of me when I hug him?" Lavi had finally decided to go back to their class as well. "And since when do you let others hug you, Yuu-chan?"

"Shut up, usagi!" He glared at his irritating classmate, so for once the other made no move to come close. Instead he was staring at his moyashi. "And what do you think you are staring at?" He ground out through clenched teeth.

"Your little friend." Lavi smiled at the boy that had finally turned to look at him too and seemed to be torn between his curiosity for him and staying close to Kanda.

"Say, who are you?" Lavi asked Allen finally in English, all the while ignoring the murderous aura Kanda gave off.

"Allen." Lavi was excited that the little one finally talked with him. "Allen? Where are you from? I'm-"

"Usagi." Allen smiled. "I know already… and you shouldn't call him Yuu-chan anymore." He pointed at Kanda and frowned as he said so.

"Errr… why should I not? And my name really is L-"

"Usagi." Kanda smirked and pulled Allen towards himself again.

"If I can't call him Yuu, then you cannot either." Allen explained still frowning at that. "So why do speak English?"

"Cause my grandpa wants me to learn many languages." Allen was impressed and curious about him. "Can you speak other languages too then, usagi?"

"Is that some kind of payback?" Lavi's smile became a bit strained when Allen blinked and looked confused.

"Payback? Why"

"Cause my name is" But once again he was cut off by Kanda who had kicked him once again. He had warned the other boy to stay away from his moyashi! He didn't care too much that he had to calm Allen down again now. At least his moyashi wasn't focused on the stupid redhead anymore.

He was saved more troubles in form of the bell that rang and was for once glad when his teacher came back into the class. Lavi glanced at him and seemed to pout. He had wanted to talk with the white haired boy longer. Kanda however didn't want that at all. Daisya was more than enough of a bad influence for the little boy already, there was absolutely no need to add Lavi to the list.

During the next break the redhead was prevented from trying to talk with Allen again since his classmates were asking him questions about the boy. They couldn't ask the tiny boy themselves and Kanda never gave answers, so they were hoping that Lavi could tell them more as he had spoken with him. They were disappointed though since Lavi didn't know much either.

He decided to talk with him during the next break, but Allen fell asleep during the lesson. Apparently he was exhausted from all the excitement and from having that many people around. He watched Kanda as he placed his jacket around the boy and for once thought he'd be better off with not going against Kanda's wishes. As such he let the little one sleep.

"Who is he really?" He whispered to Kanda instead.

"Allen Walker."

"I know his name. But who is he? Why is he with you? What's with the scar?" Lavi rolled his eyes at his friends. The boy knew damn well what he wanted to know.

"Don't you dare ask him about the scar!" Kanda whispered furiously. "I met him in the orphanage I was in. We are neighbors and he wanted to see what my school is like."

Lavi thought about that for a second before he grinned. "And you're nice enough to let him?"

"Stuff it!" Lavi smiled when he realized that he finally found something that the black haired boy liked. Up until now Kanda had always just stated when he didn't like things (an almost endless list in Lavi's mind), so he had tried to figure out what Kanda would like.

The last lesson passed fast. Kanda shook Allen awake when they were allowed to pack their things. "Come. We're finally leaving."

"I fell asleep." Allen whispered guiltily. Children weren't supposed to sleep in school.

"It's your own fault you were tired. I told you to go sleep early yesterday."

"I was worried. I couldn't sleep." Allen was really disappointed at that and Kanda sighed. What could he say that would get Allen to cheer up again and make him move out of the classroom?

"Did you like it here?" Their teacher had come up to them. When she received a nod as answer she told Allen to learn the first ten signs that he had been working with today as he would get a little test tomorrow. Kanda was surprised at that but didn't say a word as it cheered Allen up again.

* * *

It wasn't Tiedoll that picked them up in the evening, but Cross Marian. He explained that Tiedoll had to work longer today and that he would take them home instead.

Allen instantly started to tell his uncle about his day at school. When he mentioned the name of Kanda's teacher Cross nodded. "She's a fine woman… good looking too. You're lucky to have her as a teacher, brat."

Kanda just shrugged, he wasn't interested in boring teachers. Allen on the other hand agreed with his uncle.

"I think so too. She was really nice and helped me learn when no one had any questions."

"So you wanna go to school again kid?"

Allen nodded happily and Kanda groaned.

"Allen, join me in class tomorrow." Daisya said with a grin. "My classmates were really curious about you."

Seeing Allen nod, Kanda quickly reminded him that Mrs. Nine was expecting him tomorrow. "She gave you homework after all."

"So I'll have to go to Mrs. Nine tomorrow again?"

Daisya snickered. "Unless you are afraid of the test she will give you."

"Am not. You don't mind if I come along?" He asked Kanda.

Kanda noticed how everyone seemed to wait expectantly for his answer. He blushed slightly and looked away. "Che…"

That was enough of an answer for his small companion though. The boy smiled happily and continued to tell his uncle about how he met a strange red haired boy who was named usagi. This caused laughter to erupt in the car.

"Usagi means rabbit." Marie told him a few minutes later. "I'm sure it's one of Kanda's nicknames for someone."

Kanda sighed. "His name is Lavi."

"Bookman?" Cross asked, suddenly interested. As Kanda nodded he continued. "I know his grandfather. The man is one hell of a doctor. So the brat is this old already. I saw him as a baby once." Though Cross really remembered the proud mother who held the baby more. Not that the children in the car needed to know that.

* * *

This chapter was a pain in the a**. I hate broken characters, but given the background I gave Allen it would be scary if he was normal. I mean… no child would be normal if they saw their parents get killed and knew it was because of them (Mana got involved because Allen was under attack.) No matter what anyone says, Allen can't be fine with that.

So what I tried to do was showing him more as a healing person than anything else. Of course that will have drawbacks.

I initially wanted to make it into a one-shot, but I have way too many ideas in my head for them growing up. First meeting was Kanda and Allen, this was family and also friends. Next chapter will take up from here again, though after that there will be some years in between the chapters.

**Anyway, give me some opinions on this one!**


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